Computer Freezes during bios and O/S even when idle?

[contactadam2002]

My computer freezes under load and idle (mouse, sound and screen completely freeze) the fans keep spinning and all of this happens on random occasions and since a few days ago when this first started, it has started occurring more often. It actually froze on a few occasions before the operating system, could load up (during a system recovery, bios menu and GPU splash screen) and the HDD’s and optical drives were unplugged during 2 of the bios freezes. This problem (though possibly only coincidence) seemed to start a couple of weeks after I began leaving it on all night with the internet radio streaming (the CPU was under enough load to warrant the fans to spin faster, but not 100%) other than this I’ve done nothing out of the ordinary. The only remaining culprits seem to be the RAM, CPU and the motherboard. Nothing was running near danger level temperatures either and unplugging and plugging things in only sometimes postpones it. This home made PC is 5½ years old (except the GPU and all but the main boot HDD) and is a 3.2Ghz Intel P4 with an Asus P4C800 Deluxe motherboard, Geforce 7600 GS GPU and 1.75Gb of standard RAM (3x512 + 1 256). I have never had any serious problem in all that time until now. Please help and ask for any extra info if necessary.

[Guest]

Check all fans and clean their heat-sink fins and re-apply CPU thermal paste. Also try replacing the power supply.

[jsquare]

I would check/clean the fans like neuron2 advised, but that memory configuration may be a problem, I always use the same type/size of memory for all the slots, or on pairs for DDR/DDR2, try removing the 128MB. Do a default BIOS reset, or simple remove the CMOS battery for a few minutes, your BIOS settings maybe corrupted. Normally these symptoms are related to Overclocking or overheating.

[LoRd_MuldeR]

If you have several RAM modules, try using only one of them. If the system is still unstable try another RAM module. Bad RAM modules often cause trouble :rolleyes:

Checking your PSU is more difficult. You can't rely on software that monitors the PSU voltage. You need a Voltmeter for that...

[Soulhunter]

My guess is also a faulty PSU or Mobo... :/

[BigDid]

Hi,

I agree with LordMulder that RAM modules are to be inspected first. Visually for contacts oxydation, if so gently rub the contacts with a soft synthetic rubber, I revive regularly mine like that ;)

The PSU may not be in cause, unless your video card is new or nearly new and asking too much of the PSU..
I would also inspect visually the motherboard looking for leaking capacitors or other bizarre looking components;

Best would be checking (swapping) each component one by one, I know it may not be easy but for me it is the only way to confirm a failure.

If you have to change either the processor or the motherboard it could be the time to evolve to a socket 775.
The E5000 core2 duo are cheap (60 euros for the E5200) and really powerful; and with a MB like the ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2 R2.0 (VIA PT880 Ultra) (60 euros also) that can retain your DDRM RAM and AGP card it could be a smooth transition..

Did